Notes on my evaluation of SilverDict https://github.com/Crissium/SilverDict I hope to be able to use SilverDict instead of GoldenDict in android Termux (emacs paw).

Plan

• Evaluate server, client and access via curl, on Linux desktop.
• With server on Linux, evaluate access via curl from Android Termux.
• With server on Linux, evaluate access from emacs paw on Linux.
• With server on Linux, evaluate access from emacs paw on Android.
• With server on Android, evaluate access from emacs paw on Android.
• With server on Windows, evaluate access from emacs paw on Android.
• If possible, evaluate access with authorization, which would be needed for a server on public internet.

Install server on Linux

• Download SilverDict.zip from the release page and extract it. (version 1.3.1)
• Create a new python virtual environment, to be used for building SilverDict. Then activate this new venv.
  • mkdir silverdictVenv
  • python -m venv silverdictVenv
  • source silverdictVenv/bin/activate
• Install the requirements in server/requirements.txt with pip, in a python virtual environment.
• Optional: install the development package of Hunspell, then install the Python bindings with pip if you want to use Hunspell dictionaries.
  • sudo apt install libhunspell-dev
  • pip install hunspell
• Optional: install OpenCC’s shared library and the Python package if you need the feature of converting between Simplified and Traditional Chinese.
  • sudo apt install libopencc-dev
  • pip install opencc
• Optional: install Xapian and the Python bindings to use full-text search.
  • sudo apt install libxapian-dev
  • pip install –no-cache-dir xapian-bindings # That is two dashes before no-cache-dir
  • pip install lxml
• Start the server
  • python server/server.py
    • This automatically starts a client in my web browser, At localhost:2628
    • It also creates and populates directory “~/.silverdict”
    • Manually add stardict dictionaries in directory “~/.silverdict/sources”
      • Then, in client, select “Library” from hamburger menu at upper left. Select tab “SOURCES”. You should see “~/.silverdict/sources”
      • Click on “refresh” button at upper right (next to the “+” button). This should rescan your dictionary sources. Look at what the server logs to standard output.
      • Select tab “DICTIONARIES”. You should now see your dictionaries.
• Select query in the Silverdict web client, and enter a search query, for example: horse
  • You may see entries from several dictionaries.
• To test my chinese dictionary, “org”, created according to paw Chinese config page, I entered 你
  • I got a response from this dictionary.
• Populate “~/.silverdict/hunspell/” directory:
  • ln -s /usr/share/hunspell/de_DE.aff de.aff
  • ln -s /usr/share/hunspell/de_DE.dic de.dic
  • ln -s /usr/share/hunspell/en_US.aff en.aff
  • ln -s /usr/share/hunspell/en_US.dic en.dic
  • ln -s /usr/share/hunspell/es_ES.aff es.aff
  • ln -s /usr/share/hunspell/es_ES.dic es.dic
  • ln -s /usr/share/hunspell/fr.aff fr.aff
  • ln -s /usr/share/hunspell/fr.dic fr.dic
  • ln -s /usr/share/hunspell/pl_PL.aff pl.aff
  • ln -s /usr/share/hunspell/pl_PL.dic pl.dic
  • ln -s /usr/share/hunspell/ru_RU.aff ru.aff
  • ln -s /usr/share/hunspell/ru_RU.dic ru.dic
  • ln -s /usr/share/hunspell/sv_SE.aff sv.aff
  • ln -s /usr/share/hunspell/sv_SE.dic sv.dic
  • ls -lL
• In web client, select Library, tab GROUPS.
  • Create groups, for example for each language, say a group “Chinese” with language code zh. Add suitable dictionaries to the group. Say dictionary “org” to the “Chinese” group.

Query using “curl” command line application:

• curl http://localhost:2628/api/query/Chinese/你
  • Queries the dictionaries in group “Chinese”, for query key “你”
    • The answer is returned as html.

Query using “eww” in emacs:

• M-x eww
  • At the eww prompt enter: http://localhost:2628/api/query/Chinese/你
  • Queries the dictionaries in group “Chinese”, for query key “你”
    • The answer is returned as html, and eww displays the interpreted html in an emacs buffer.

Install server on Android Termux

• Download SilverDict.zip to your Android mobile.
• The following are to be done in Termux.
• create a directory, say “silverdict” somewhere, for example “~/silverdict”
• cd into the silverdict directory.
  • unzip SilverDict.zip
  • ./termux-setup.sh
  • The scripts ~/.shortcuts/SilverDict-Start.sh and SilverDict-Stop.sh may have been created starting with garbage string “-e “. Edit the files and remove that string.
  • The SilverDict wiki suggests installing Termux:Widget. I’m unsure if that is compatible with the termux provided with Android emacs. Better stay away from it until that is clarified.
  • Install stardict dictionaries under sdcard/Documents/Dictionaries
  • Open a web browser at http://127.0.0.1/2628 or http://localhost:2628
    • Select “Libraries” from the hamburger menu at upper left
    • Select tab “SOURCES”
    • Click on “refresh” button at upper right (next to the “+” button). This should rescan your dictionary sources. Look at what the server logs to ~/.silverdict/server.log
    • Select tab “DICTIONARIES”. You should now see your dictionaries.
    • Select query in the Silverdict web client, and enter a search query, for example: horse
    • You may see entries from several dictionaries.
    • To test my chinese dictionary, “org”, created according to paw Chinese config page, I entered 你
    • I got a response from this dictionary.

In Android emacs query using “eww” in emacs:

• M-x eww
  • At the eww prompt enter: http://localhost:2628/api/query/Default Group/你
  • Queries the dictionaries in group “Default Group”, for query key “你”
    • The answer is returned as html, and eww displays the interpreted html in an emacs buffer.

In Android create library groups

• In web client, select Library, tab GROUPS.
  • Create groups, for example for each language, say a group “Chinese” with language code zh. Add suitable dictionaries to the group. Say dictionary “org” to the “Chinese” group.